Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY) Holdings Boosted by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Mercury General Co. (NYSE:MCY - Free Report) by 274.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,381 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 86,064 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.21% of Mercury General worth $7,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 145.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 554 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,738 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,299 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 1.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 47,882 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,016,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Mercury General Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MCY stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $56.97. 381,043 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 887,847. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. Mercury General Co. has a one year low of $44.19 and a one year high of $80.72. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $52.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.80.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.84. Mercury General had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Sell-side analysts predict that Mercury General Co. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from Mercury General's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Mercury General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Mercury General from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised shares of Mercury General from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

About Mercury General

Mercury General Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in writing personal automobile insurance in the United States. The company also writes homeowners, commercial automobile, commercial property, mechanical protection, and umbrella insurance products. Its automobile insurance products include collision, property damage, bodily injury, comprehensive, personal injury protection, underinsured and uninsured motorist, and other hazards; and homeowners insurance products comprise dwelling, liability, personal property, and other coverages.